Bishop O'Connell | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published April 10, 2012 at 8:45AM

Moran Challenger Gets on Ballot — Rep. Jim Moran (D) will have a Democratic primary challenger, after all. Arlington businessman Bruce Shuttleworth has been certified to appear on the June 12 congressional primary ballot, after initially being rejected by election officials for supposedly not having the required 1,000 petition signatures. Shuttleworth’s campaign sued in federal court; yesterday the Virginia Democratic party certified his candidacy. [Washington Post]

O’Connell’s Undefeated Softball Team — The Bishop O’Connell Knights softball team is undefeated, with a perfect 10-0 record. One of its pitchers, Tori Finucane, has an astounding 0.00 earned run average for the season, with 114 strikeouts in 56 innings. [Sun Gazette]

News

UPDATED: Bishop O’Connell Inadvertently Contributed to Kelly Campaign

By ARLnow.com

Published April 2, 2012 at 10:15AM | Updated April 2, 2012 at 5:46PM

In a statement issued late this afternoon, Michael J. Donohue, Director of Communications for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, said the donation was made by a school employee using school funds. The check was intended to be a donation from an individual, however, and not a donation on behalf of the school itself, according to Donohue.

The Diocese learned today that a member of the staff of Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington County recently used a school check for the sake of convenience to purchase a set of tickets to a political fundraiser for a candidate for local office. This was a significant error in judgment on the part of the school employee as well as a clear violation of diocesan policy. Though all of the $350 in school funds were reimbursed by the employee, Chancery and school officials are presently reviewing the matter, and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 6, 2011 at 8:06AM | Updated September 6, 2011 at 9:42AM

Rain streaks on a window overlooking the monuments in D.C. (Flickr pool photo by Brian Allen)

Businesses Encouraged By Action on Sign Ordinance — Business owners are hopeful that the new, proposed changes to the sign ordinance will dramatically “streamline” the time-consuming, costly process for getting signs approved in Arlington. [Washington Examiner]

DJO Student’s Dry-Cleaning Research Makes Headlines — It’s not everyday that a high school sophomore’s science project makes it into an peer-reviewed academic research journal, but that’s exactly what happened to Bishop O’Connell High School student Alexa Dantzler. The 15-year-old’s research on chemicals that remain on clothing after dry-cleaning, conducted with the help of the Georgetown University chemistry department, was formally published last week. [Washington Post]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 1, 2011 at 7:41AM | Updated August 1, 2011 at 8:53AM

Guilty Plea in Arlington Child Prostitution Case — A former Westfield Wheaton mall security guard has pleaded guilty to enlisting a 16-year-old Arlington girl in his prostitution service. The 31-year-old Silver Spring man was accused of having sex with the girl, taking explicit photos of her and ordering her to have sex with eight men in Virginia and Maryland. [Gazette.Net]

Former O’Connell Teacher’s Car Found — The car of a former Bishop O’Connell High School teacher, missing since mid-June, has been found in a Rosslyn parking garage. The family of Tom Duesterhaus, who was last seen in Virginia Beach a day after the car was parked in the garage, says the discovery will likely not help with the search. [Patch]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2011 at 8:18AM | Updated July 12, 2011 at 8:42AM

Beloved Bishop O’Connell Football Coach Dies — Steve Trimble, Bishop O’Connell High School’s varsity football coach since 2002, died suddenly at his office yesterday morning. Trimble played high school football in Cumberland, Md., before playing for the University of Maryland on a scholarship. He played free safety for the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears during the early-to-mid 80s, before playing in arena leagues and then joining the coaching staffs of several NFL teams. Trimble, 53, was the father of four sons, all of whom played football at O’Connell. [Arlington Catholic Herald]

Immigrant Advocate Wants Office for Latinos — Lois Athey, the head of tenants-rights group BU-GATA, told the County Board over the weekend that she would like the county to establish an Office of Latino Affairs for Arlington’s 31,000 Latino residents. Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman asked County Manager Barbara Donnellan to look into options for further outreach to the Latino community. [Sun Gazette]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 23, 2011 at 8:27AM

Pentagon Suspect Suspected in Shootings — The man whose arrest prompted authorities to shut down Washington Boulevard during the Friday morning rush hour is now being investigated for a possible connection to a mysterious series of incidents of shots fired at the Pentagon and various Northern Virginia sites linked to the Marine Corps. Yonathan Melaku, a 22-year-old Marine reservist, is currently being held at a Loudoun County jail. [Inside Nova]

Arlington Cabbies Stage Sit-In — Arlington taxi drivers surprised county officials by packing into a Arlington County office yesterday in protest of regulations that they say give the owners of taxi companies too much control over drivers. [Washington Examiner]

News

DEVELOPING — Diocese Sues Arlington Over Bishop O’Connell Lights

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2011 at 8:26PM

The suit was filed in response to the County Board’s denial of a request by Bishop O’Connell high school to add lights to its athletic fields.

The Diocese issued the following statement tonight about its legal action.

News

County Board Rejects Lights for Bishop O’Connell High School

By ARLnow.com

Published March 16, 2011 at 11:23AM

The board’s 3-1 vote to reject the proposal came after nearly 75 speakers — including neighbors, student athletes, nuns and local gadflies — spoke both strongly in favor and strongly against the O’Connell lighting plan.

(Board member Barbara Favola recused herself due to her work for Marymount University. The lighting proposal called for Marymount’s athletic teams to be granted partial use of the fields.)

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 14, 2011 at 7:43AM

Bishop O’Connell Lights Decision May Be Delayed — County Manager Barbara Donnellan recommended the County Board put off any discussion of Bishop O’Connell High School’s request to add lights to its athletic fields until June, to give staff more time to analyze the controversial issue. [Sun Gazette]

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner in Shirlington — Sen. Jim Webb was spotted having dinner at T.H.A.I. Shirlington Friday night, according to a blog. [Shirlington Village Blogspot]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 18, 2011 at 8:01AM

Zimmerman Responds to HOT Lanes Criticism — County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman is responding to attacks by Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity and the Washington Post’s editorial board regarding Arlington’s lawsuit against HOT lanes on I-395. Zimmerman accuses Herrity and the Post of “distort[ing] both the reasons for the county’s litigation in the high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes case and its effects.” [Washington Post]

Bishop O’Connell Fight Continues — A group of residents is appealing the Arlington County zoning office’s decision to allow Bishop O’Connell High School to build a new athletic field. Separately, the county board will hear testimony next month about whether the school should be allowed to install stadium lighting around the new field. [TBD]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 17, 2011 at 8:43AM | Updated January 17, 2011 at 1:55PM

State Senator’s Husband Pens Alarming Column — Tom Whipple, husband of state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D), has penned a column entitled “The Peak Oil Crisis: Civil Unrest” for the Falls Church News-Press. He writes: “By failure to guide the country to real solutions to real problems, our leaders are risking increasing violence as the frustrations of an unknowing people continue to grow.” [Not Larry Sabato]

Grocery Store and Development Proposed for Bergmann’s Site — A developer wants to bring a grocery store to the site of the Bergmann’s Cleaners on Lee Highway, provided the county also approves a 12-story apartment building next door. The apartment site is currently zoned only for single family homes. [TBD]

Around Town

Sinister Plot or ‘Saved By The Bell’ Plot?

By ARLnow.com

Published January 4, 2011 at 7:32AM | Updated January 4, 2011 at 11:30AM

The photo (above left) of some sort of yellow rig near the Bishop O’Connell High School football field has neighbors speculating, according to TBD. Some believe that work is getting underway on a controversial athletic field renovation before the project has been formally approved by the county board.

We don’t know about that, but it does vaguely remind us the oil derrick from a 20-year-old Saved by the Bell episode entitled “Pipe Dreams,” in which oil is discovered underneath the Bayside High School football field. For a while, everybody thought the oil money was going to bring exciting improvements to the school, but in the end a beloved duck died and the whole situation was judged a fiasco.